Laser Powder Bed Fusion Directed Energy Deposition Patent Landscape
Laser Powder Bed Fusion Directed Energy Deposition Patent Landscape in 2026
The intersection of laser powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition is an early-stage, sparsely patented field with 7 patent families on record and no disclosed co-filing activity, leaving most technical ground uncontested. France’s CEA holds the plurality of filings, but the presence of U.S. universities and a private engineering firm signals growing academic and industrial interest.
CEA leads a nascent, highly concentrated field
The Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) holds the top position with 3 patent families — nearly half the entire corpus — followed by four filers each holding 1 patent family: California Institute of Technology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Product Innovation & Engineering LLC, and the University of Michigan.
Concentration is extreme: the top five filers account for 100% of the top hundred filers’ combined total, reflecting how few institutions have yet staked formal intellectual-property positions in this combined process space.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) | 3 | |
| 2 | California Institute of Technology | 1 | |
| 3 | Kumaraguru College of Technology | 1 | |
| 4 | PRODUCT INNOVATION & ENGINEERING LLC | 1 | |
| 5 | University of Michigan | 1 |
CEA’s lead, grounded in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing process classes, suggests a European research-institute origin for the field’s foundational filings, while U. S. and Indian entrants indicate early international diffusion.
Filing activity from 2024 onward is subject to publication lag and should be treated as a lower-bound count; the apparent slowdown in 2024–2025 is not interpretable as a real decline. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filings began only in 2022 and technology focus clusters tightly in powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing
The trend chart captures the genesis of a topic that produced no recorded filings before 2022; the technology composition chart shows how tightly the corpus concentrates in a few IPC classes.
Annual filing trend
Zero filings appear from 2017 through 2021, with activity beginning in 2022 (1 family), rising to a 3-family peak in 2023, and recording 2 families in 2024 and 1 in 2025. The 2024 and 2025 figures are subject to publication lag and should be read as floors, not final counts.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B22F (powder metallurgy) and B33Y (additive manufacturing / 3D printing) each appear in 6 patent records, making them the dominant technical axes. B23K (welding, soldering and brazing) and C22C (alloys) each appear in 3 records, reflecting the process-material coupling inherent to the technology. B08B (cleaning) and B29C (plastics shaping) are marginal at 1 record each, signalling adjacent but under-developed directions.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Additive manufacturing method for manufacturing a …
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a metal alloy part by additive manufacturing, said metal alloy comprising a metal element A and said part further comprising inclusions of a phosphor compound consisting of a metal oxide doped by said metal element A, said method comprising at least one step of forming a layer comprising said metal alloy… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
With only 7 patent families and all filers identified as new entrants, LPBF-DED sits at the very beginning of an intellectual-property cycle. The structural signals below help frame where risk and opportunity concentrate.
Embryonic field with no established life-cycle stage
Filing activity did not begin until 2022 and the total corpus stands at 7 patent families, placing this field at an embryonic or pre-growth stage. No life-cycle stage assessment is available from the evidence, consistent with the absence of the volume needed to determine a reliable trend. Early movers face low blocking risk but also limited prior-art guidance.
Early stageOne institution holds plurality; remaining filers are single-family
CEA’s 3-family position gives it a structural lead, but the gap to the four single-family filers is narrow in absolute terms. In a corpus this small, a single focused filing program by any entrant could shift the rankings materially within one filing cycle. The field is concentrated by share but not yet locked by depth.
High concentrationNo co-filing activity detected
The collaboration evidence shows no recorded co-applicant filings in this corpus. The absence of consortia or bilateral filings is consistent with an embryonic field where individual actors are still mapping the technical space independently. Cross-institutional or industry-academic partnerships have not yet formed visible IP clusters here.
No co-filers detectedU.S. leads by office, with PCT and EPO providing international reach
The United States leads with 3 patent records, followed by WIPO PCT filings (2), EPO (1), and India (1). The PCT filings signal that at least some applicants are preserving international prosecution options. The United States and Europe together represent the primary enforcement and commercialisation markets being protected.
US-led, internationally spreadGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
CEA leads; four single-family new entrants span academia and industry
All tracked filers entered the corpus recently and are classified as new entrants, indicating no established incumbent with a multi-year filing history in this exact intersection.
Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA)
CEA holds 3 patent families — the corpus plurality — concentrated in B22F powder metallurgy and B33Y additive manufacturing process classes. Its momentum is classified as a new entrant with 3 recent filings against no prior-period baseline, suggesting an intentional and rapid staking of this technical intersection. Representative filings include WO2024084180A1 and EP4605160A1.
families: 3California Institute of Technology
Caltech holds 1 patent family with a focus on B22F powder metallurgy and C22C alloy classes, pointing to a materials-science angle on the process. Its momentum is also classified as a new entrant, with 1 recent filing and no prior-period baseline. The alloy emphasis distinguishes its technical approach from CEA’s process-centered focus.
families: 1| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| California Institute of Technology | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| PRODUCT INNOVATION & ENGINEERING LLC | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
| Kumaraguru College of Technology | 1 | ▲ new entrant |
Cleaning processes and plastics shaping are sparse adjacent branches
Two IPC classes appear at the margin of the corpus with a single patent record each. They are observations of relative sparsity rather than validated commercial opportunities; entry-path plausibility varies.
B08B · Cleaning (general)
Only 1 patent record (5% share) touches B08B, filed by Product Innovation & Engineering LLC alongside welding and additive manufacturing classes. In the context of powder-bed and directed-energy processes, cleaning relates to post-build surface treatment and powder removal — technically relevant to part quality but so far unaddressed by other filers. An entrant with process-engineering depth in powder handling or surface finishing could explore this sub-space with limited blocking risk.
Search this in Eureka →B29C · Shaping of plastics
Only 1 patent record (5% share) appears under B29C, filed by Kumaraguru College of Technology alongside additive manufacturing classes. Plastics shaping in a metal-focused LPBF-DED context may reflect multi-material or polymer-metal hybrid process research. The technical plausibility is present but the intersection with metal-dominant LPBF-DED is non-obvious; any entrant should first confirm whether this represents a genuine process hybrid or a classification artifact.
Search this in Eureka →How filers differ by technology route across IPC classes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | B22F 10 · Powder metallurgy | B33Y 10 · Additive manufacturing (3D printing) | B22F 3 · Powder metallurgy | B23K 26 · Welding, soldering & brazing | C22C 33 · Alloys |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA) | Strong · 3 | Strong · 3 | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 | Strong · 2 |
| California Institute of Technology | Strong · 1 | Absent | Strong · 1 | Absent | Strong · 1 |
| Kumaraguru College of Technology | Strong · 1 | Strong · 1 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| University of Michigan | Strong · 1 | Strong · 1 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Product Innovation & Engineering LLC | Absent | Absent | Absent | Strong · 1 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The current corpus contains 7 patent families. This is a very small total, consistent with an embryonic field where formal IP activity only began in 2022.
CEA (Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives) leads with 3 patent families, representing the plurality of the corpus. California Institute of Technology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Product Innovation & Engineering LLC, and the University of Michigan each hold 1 patent family.
No filings appear before 2022 in the evidence. The first recorded activity is 1 patent family filed in 2022, rising to 3 in 2023. Filing counts for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and should be treated as lower-bound figures.
The United States leads with 3 patent records, followed by WIPO PCT filings (2), EPO (1), and India (1). PCT filings indicate that at least some applicants are preserving the option to pursue protection across multiple national jurisdictions.
B22F (powder metallurgy) and B33Y (additive manufacturing / 3D printing) each appear in 6 patent records, making them the core technical axes. B23K (welding, soldering and brazing) and C22C (alloys) each appear in 3 records, reflecting the process-material coupling central to the technology.
No co-applicant filings are recorded in the evidence. All filers appear to be operating independently, which is typical of early-stage fields where actors are still individually exploring the technical landscape before forming partnerships.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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